Trading Through Harsh Winter Weather
Recent headlines read “Bomb Cyclone Brings Subzero Conditions”, “Arctic Blast Record-Breaking Cold Weather Forecast For Many States” and the big one… “Wild Card Matchup Between Bills and Steelers Postponed to Monday Due to Winter Storm”. Yikes! Now it’s serious!
Winter weather is here, and so are threats to our technology. You can only imagine the millions of connections that have to be made to ensure our trades work. It’s almost miraculous. If there develops but a hairline break in any of it, the entire process comes to an end. We cannot control most of the servers, but we can control, to some extent, any of the hardware closest to us.
Years ago, my computer crashed and locked up with a virus. I had to take it to my techie to get it fixed. The soonest he could get to it was the next day. Even a $100 bonus I offered him to fix it immediately wasn’t enough; all his jobs were high priority. And apparently, I was lucky to get it back the next day.
Trouble was, I had some open options sitting on my computer, not on the market — options that were to expire soon with all their theta sucked out by the time I was able to sell them. To make matters worse, I realized when I did get my system back, that if I had put them up for sale earlier, I would have made a nice profit.
Some of the important lessons I learned that day include:
1. Immediately after opening a position, put it up for sale with a “good till canceled” (GTC) order. Should you suddenly lose your computer, internet or power, even for extended periods, you’re covered.
2. Get an uninterrupted power supply (UPS). The cost is minimal and the value is priceless. Recently, millions were without power due to weather. According to Climate Central, about 83% of reported major outage between 2000 and 2021 in the United States are attributed to weather related events. Furthermore, the average annual number of such outages has increased by almost 80% since 2011. It’s getting worse, not better. A UPS will allow you time to power down your trades, ensuring your order is on the market. Make sure your modem and router are also plugged in and check that your UPS has ample power left; they don’t last forever.
3. Another good idea is to load your trading platform’s app onto your phone and learn how to use it, even if to just close positions.
4. Learn how to activate the hotspot feature. Should your home internet go down, you may still tether it to your cell network.
5. While using your cell phone, as inclement weather approaches, make sure your cell phone and other devices are fully charged.
6. As innocuous as it seems, ensure that you have ample batteries handy to service any peripherals, such as wireless keyboards and mice. It would be a poor excuse to lose a trade because you didn’t have a spare AAA battery on hand.
7. Personally, I also have another computer I can jump to, should my main machine completely die. If you do have a backup computer, it’s a good idea to run it on occasion to ensure it is ready when you need it. Other peripherals to have handy include a backup wired mouse and keyboard. You never know when you may need them.
As a precaution, you may also want to think twice about going online to trade in the midst of any major storms, particularly if you live in an area prone to outages.
We at DayTradeSPY take our webinars seriously. For example, in our morning Trading Rooms, Ahren and I, being 400 miles apart, are both able to host these events independently. We have redundant systems to ensure everything goes smoothly.
That commitment to your success is but one more reason you need to join us in the Trading Room. We are serious about trading. If you are too, click here to subscribe. In doing so, your commitment is matched by ours, and together, we can help make you a great trader!
Not sure yet? Join our Sunday Night Intro to Trading/Week in Review session to find out if trading is for you. Costs you nothing and it could possibly change your life.
As for the football game, snow in Buffalo is our hometown advantage. The Bills beat the Steelers 31-17. Thanks to the fans for shoveling out the stadium.
Create great trades!
P.S. We will be holding a subscribers-only teleconference on Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. EST entitled “How We Turned $2k into $10k in under 90 Days… TWICE! Join us for Round 3!” The event is free to attend, but you must register here to be able to attend. Don’t miss out!
